A Tribute

Fred played host to this holiday weekend’s reading at Beyond Baroque, which took place on Sunday. He kicked off the reading with the poem, “The Western,” which was featured on KCET as a poem of the month. Next, Fred read four short poems dealing with the central themes of death, fear, and the coming end: “X Factor,”“Baptized,” “A Spinning Earth,” and “What Exactly.” The reading then opened up to poets who signed up to read their work. The last poet to read before Fred closed the reading out was a street poet, Steve Baratta. He read the last two verses of “When The Music Is Over” and sang a touching version of “The Unknown Soldier,” two songs by The Doors. The reading took place on July 3rd, which was the 40th anniversary of Jim Morrison’s death, and this tribute honored the band. Fred then finished the night with “Who’s Your Master,”a poem about those who have power that is out of their control, and finally “Sinner Sinner,” a poem about those who get ahead in life in any way they can. Thanks to those who came to the monthly open reading series.

Press the “Play” icon to listen:

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.